Austria: Man Convicted After Texting Anti-Refugee Message

The court sentenced the man to a 10-month suspended prison term and fined him 7,500 euros (nearly $9,000)

Afghan refugees sit on the railway tracks, which links Greece with Macedonia, behind the fence, as they protest at the Greek-Macedonian borderline near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, photo: AP/Giannis Papanikos

VIENNA – An Austrian court has found a man guilty of contravening the nation’s anti-Nazi laws after he sent a picture on a messaging service of headwear adorned with the swastika and death-heads, with the message “dear refugees, you will recognize your caseworker by these hats.”

After pronouncing its verdict, the court on Friday sentenced the man to a 10-month suspended prison term and fined him 7,500 euros (nearly $9,000).

The German national isn’t being identified in keeping with Austrian privacy laws. Along with sending pro-Nazi pictures and texts on WhatsApp, the court found him guilty of displaying Nazi symbols in his home, including a bottle of beer with the portrait of Adolf Hitler on it.